Parting is such sweet sorrow
“Grace right?” Regulus smiled at her and the sinking fear of what his mother may have done if he was sorted into gryffindor all but washed away when Grace was sorted with him.
“Yea, Regulus?” Grace’s soft voice was still shaky but she still let out a small smile past her freckled cheeks. “Do you think it’s bad? That we’re not with our siblings, or, or that we’re in slytherin?” The question caught him off guard until he began to put the pieces together, “Evans” wasn’t a wizarding name, she was fascinated over everything they had seen so far. She was a muggle born, it would make sense why she seemed so scared, and why Sirius had never mentioned her to Regulus, who knows what their mother could do if she had found out Sirius was not only friends with half bloods and blood traitors, but muggleborns too.
“What? No, it’s not a bad thing Grace, slytherins are ambitious and cunning, and determined and clever and well gryffindor, they’re impulsive but brave and every family needs both, we’re simply fulfilling our duties right?” He replied with a smile forgetting the consequence he could receive for befriending her.
She wiped away the small tears forming in her eyes. “I always liked green more than red.” She smiled tugging at her collar which was now adorned with a clean silver and deep green tie.
“See, there’s that slytherin pride, it’ll be a good year, i promise” he smiled and clasped her hand and then quickly let go breaking contact with her hazel eyes.
The welcoming feast went well, Grace spent the dinner talking with Regulus. She learned that Blacks had always been sorted into slytherin except for Sirius, she also learned that secretly Regulus admired him for breaking that chain with pride. Regulus learned that the Evans were friends with Severus Snape who was also in slytherin, he found out about her older sister Petunia, she was the only Evan who did not receive a hogwarts letter and by the tone in Grace’s voice he could tell that Petunia wasn’t happy with that. Both her and Regulus constantly eyed their older siblings who both smiled back every time their eyes met. Regulus felt a small twinge of sadness creep its way into his heart as he reminded himself of the train ride to hogwarts, but before he dove into those thoughts he felt Grace tug his sleeve.
“Come on Reg, we're going to our common room!” Her voice swelled with excitement as she grabbed his hand and pulled him away from the table.
The common room was down by the lake and was decorated with black leather furniture and long green plants hanging from the walls, the sound of running water echoed throughout the common room and up into the dorms. As the boys and girls were separated Regulus watched as Grace was whisked away to her dorm mates excitedly talking to the group of girls surrounding her.
“Regulus?” He turned to see a tall boy with curly blonde hair.
“Yes?”
“ I’m Tiberius Nott, i’m one of your dorm mates, we met a few years back at my sisters wedding, i think we may have been well around seven” laughed Nott.
“Oh, Hi!” Regulus smiled up at the boy as they made their way up to their new dorm.
“Grace Evans, hi!” Beamed Grace extending her hand to a group of three girls standing by the stairs.
“Dora Bulstrode” said one girl shaking Grace’s hand.
“Evans? You’re a halfblood?” Asked one girl with black hair and a particularly upturned nose.
“Muggle born actually.” Whispered Grace suddenly remembering the way Lily said the slytherin students treated her for her blood status.
“And you’re in slytherin?” Asked the girl pointing her nose towards her.
“Cool it Parkinson, sorry about Posie, her family is very anti muggle, I’m Arizona Greengrass!” Smiled the girl dragging Grace up the stairs.
“Arizona? Like the state?” Laughed Grace
“Yea, odd isn’t it, my mother had always been fascinated by muggles, especially the American states, Arizona was the prettiest state to her so, here i am, but you can call me Ari.” Smiled Ari gesturing to a bed in their dorm, “Here you’ll take the bed next to mine, Dora and Posie are a bit difficult to get along with but they’ll come around.”
Grace stood and stared at the large four poster bed decorated with green silk pillows and a large black duvet, she grabbed her luggage from the center of the room and began happily unpacking her things into her trunk alongside Ari who kept unpacking tacky state t-shirts.
“So, is it just us?” Regulus sat on his bed across from Tiberius who sat awkwardly starring at him.
“I don’t think so, the paper said four to a dorm.”
“What paper?”
“The one stuck on the door, bloody hell you’ve been so distracted eyeing that mud blood you didn’t see it?” Tiberius began to unpack his luggage as he flopped his clothes into his trunk.
“Mud blood? Seriously Nott lets not start the year by calling our house mates slurs.She’s a nice girl.” Regulus began unpacking his own luggage.”
“Alright whatever you say mate, I’ve got nothing against them, unless she’s a bitch, then I’ll hate her.”
“Excuse me, there seemed to have been a small error and you two will be bunking with with two second years, Severus Snape and Sol Zabini.” The slytherin prefect interrupted their conversation,shoved two boys in their room and left.
“Where were you two before?” Asked Nott without looking up from his trunk.
“We had our own room, like how you two almost ended up.” One of the boys replied, he had pin straight black hair and a pointed nose and Regulus could recognize him as Severus Snape. “Good to see you Black, hopefully you’ll be less annoying than your brother” he added while taking the bed next to Regulus.
“You’re Blacks brother?” The other boy, Sol, put his bag down on the remaining bed and looked towards Regulus who immediately turned red under the stare of all three boys.
“Looks like you’re famous ey Reg.” Laughed Tiberius as he flopped onto his bed.
“No Sirius Black is just one of the many reasons the slytherins didn’t win house cup last year.”said Severus shutting his trunk.
“Don’t act like your love for miss Lily Evans didn’t fuel that fire, you know her little sister was sorted into Slytherin, pretty isn’t she.”teased Sol walking into the bathroom.
“Grace is like a sister and i am not in love with Lily shut it Sol.” Severus followed his friends into the bathroom tossing him his toothbrush.
“Best keep those lingering eyes to yourself ey Black, seems like Sev’s got dibs on the Evans.”laughed Nott shutting his curtains.